Transit bus hits CHP motorcycle officer

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A California Highway Patrol motorcycle officer was injured in Bay Point this morning when a Tri Delta Transit bus cut a turn too short and knocked his bike over on top of him, CHP Officer Scott Yox said.

The officer, 27-year-old Frank Dalao, had been heading westbound on Kevin Drive. He was stopped at a stop sign at the intersection Port Chicago Highway shortly after 9 a.m. when the bus, which was heading southbound on Port Chicago Highway, apparently made a left turn onto Kevin Drive too sharply, Yox said.

Dalao saw that the bus was about to hit him and he tried to walk his motorcycle backwards to get out of the way but wasn't able to in time.

Dalao, who was wearing a helmet, hit his head on the ground and suffered minor injuries to his right leg when the motorcycle, estimated to weigh between 700 and 800 pounds, landed on it.

He was taken to John Muir Medical Center in Walnut Creek. Yox said that it didn't appear the officer suffered any broken bones and he is expected to be released from the hospital today.

A passenger on the bus also saw that the driver had taken the turn too short, confirming the officer's account of the incident, Yox said.

Dalao has been with the CHP for five years and has been a motorcycle officer for two, Yox said.

The bus driver, 36-year-old Brentwood resident Salvador Castro, is not suspected of being under the influence of drugs or alcohol and was released at the scene, Yox said.

Tri Delta Transit Chief Executive Officer Jeanne Krieg said that Castro has been driving busses for the Eastern Contra Costa County Transit Authority for 11 years.

Transit authority officials are investigating the incident alongside the CHP and will be conducting their own drug and alcohol tests, a standard procedure in any accident investigation involving a bus, Krieg said.

Tri Delta Transit serves a population of nearly 250,000 people in eastern Contra Costa County, providing 15 local routes over a 225-square-mile area, according to the company.